Of Love and Other things
by ladycamila
Summary: She'll read until she's blue in the face if only to make him forget about the cold and the hunger for just a little while.


They stumble across a mostly burnt down library.

Most of the books have turned to ash but a few look barely touched by fire. She suggests that they spend the night in the part of the building that still has a roof and he's so cold and tired that he agrees instantly.

His breath is reassuring on her face as they cuddle for warmth but she can't drag her mind away from the books that lay undamaged just a few feet beneath them. She pulls herself away from him smoothly and he barely stirs as she gets to her feet. The moon is bright and casts a brilliant glow on everything making it easy for her to find her way down the charred staircase. She inspects each book carefully and squints to skim a few pages in each, her eyes instantly fill with tears when she comes across Sansa's favorite story book from when they were children. It's filled with stories of ladies and knights and long summers filled with adventure.

Arya hates to be so emotional but she's cold, hungry, and exhausted down into her bones. She rubs at her eyes with the sleeve of her tunic but they just won't stop coming and she chokes on a sob when Gendry's warm hand comes to rest on her back as it always does in moments like these. He plucks the book from her fingers and studies it with a sad intensity, she know that he doesn't know how to read and she knows that it bothers him more than he's willing to admit. She takes the book back from him and grabs the two other books that she thought looked interesting, he looks at her curiously.

"We may not have enough food to fill our bellies or beds to keep up off the ground but we can at least have a little entertainment." She shrugs. Gendry huffs, she knows that he thinks that she's mocking him somehow but she isn't. She'll read to him until her face turns blue if she has to. She wants to smooth the seemingly permanent crease in his brow if only for a little while, wants to make him forget that they could die at any moment, she wants to warm him from the inside out.

She doesn't read to him that night though. She's falls asleep as soon as she lies down and Gendry wraps his arm around her protectively.

The next morning they start to walk as soon as the sun rises and they happen upon an apple tree not too far down the road and they both eat green apples until they are sick but their stomachs are full and they have a few apples tucked into their bags so neither of them complains. They walk for hours in silence only stopping to go to the bathroom and drink water from an ice cold stream.

She insists that they stop earlier in the day than usual and he gathers firewood while she tries her hand at fishing.

She catches a fish for each of them and with the apples and some berries that Gendry finds it feels like they eat like kings. The sun is still giving off plenty of light when she beckons him over to sit with her beside the fire. He sits as close as his honor with allow and it bothers her greatly. So she lies her head down on his lap just in spite of his stupid honor. He sputters and is about to protest but she cuts him off when she begins to read the first tale in the book that he sister was so fond of as a child. It starts with a fair maiden whose evil uncle locks her in a tower because he wants her and when she refuses him, he claims that if he can't have her than nobody will. He doesn't kill her which is what Gendry expected the evil uncle to do and it confuses him but he doesn't want to interupt Arya while she read so passionately. Her eyes dance along the pages and Gendry is jealous that he can't do such a thing but even if he could he would want her to read to him anyway, just so he could watch her face glow with delight.

The story continues with the father of the fair maiden asking a strong and noble knight to rescue his lovely daughter, the knight begins his journey at once. He is met with dragons and forest faeries that lead him astray. They lead him to a cave where he must battle an angry giant. Gendry is so caught up in the story that he doesn't even notice that his hand has slipped into her long thick hair. Arya notices and falters slightly, this seemed to have snapped Gendry out of his daze and he made to pull his hand away but she tugged on his wrist and moved his large fingers to her scalp where his finger tips rested just a little ways from her ear. She nearly purred when his fingers began to stroke her hair but she caught herself before she could do any such thing. Her voice cracked slightly when a calloused finger found it's way to the soft skin just behind her ear.

The knight finally finds the tower and is surprised to find it being guarded by a vicious dragon. Gendry's fingers fisted in her hair as she read dramatically about the fight between the dragon and the knight. It seemed that all hope was lost when the dragon had the bloodied knight cornered but through sheer force of will, the knight managed to stab the dragon in the soft part of it's belly. The maiden was rescued and she and the knight fell in love at the sight of each other.

The story ends with a wedding and a feast and a very happy kingdom.

"But what happened to the uncle?" Gendry inquired. Arya shrugged.

"The stories ends there, so I don't know. I imagine that someone must have gotten rid of him one way or another if everyone is so happy."

Gendry tilts his head at her and glances at the book.

"There are still so many pages left. How can you not know?" The confused look on his face makes butterflies erupt in Arya's stomach. She often calls him stupid and she hardly ever means it, but sometimes he has these moments where his wonder and confusion make her insides twist and her heart thud roughly against her breast.

"There are other stories but none of them are connected."

Gendry only nods but there is an awkward silence that follows. She wonders if he likes them like this. Her head rested on the hard planes of his thigh while he caresses her softly. They pull away from each other slowly and they both go to make water at separate ends of the small forest that they are in. They talk quietly about the fate of the uncle and the different ways they would have liked to see the story go.

That night when they curled together to sleep, Gendry's arm rested a little lower on her hip than usual and the last thing she thought before sleep pulled her under was that a bastard blacksmith will always be better than some honorable knight.

The next day started with Arya finally killing a rabbit and they cooked and ate it quickly, both silently excited about the next story to be read that night.

Their good moods were destroyed when it started to snow only a few hours into their walk. They found shelter in a cave and they both took turns gathering all the dry sticks they could find. They split an apple and the leftovers of the rabbit before sitting as close to the fire and each other as they could. Before she started reading, Gendry yanked at her hair a little roughly and when she looked at him she noticed that he was blushing.

"I won't mind if you find that you need a place to rest your head again." His shy close-mouthed smile made heat creep from her toes to her belly.

She rested her head against his leg again but this time she let the back of her head find his stomach. His hand began to pet her hair fondly.

This fable opened with a young man of seven and ten, roughly Gendry's age, who had just awoken from a vivid dre-

"Wait, what's vivid mean?" Gendry asked.

"Uhm, like very clear. His dream must have felt real is what I think they mean." Arya explained.

The young man awoke startled from his dream. He dreamed of a familiar woman and a red witch and a beautiful castle in some far away land. Arya told of the orphan boy and his work as an apprentice in a small village in a kingdom that was dry and warm.

Arya hesitated. The thought of a summery kingdom served only as a reminder of her numb toes and Winterfell in ruins.

"Please Arya, I've never heard any tale of a lowborn bastard boy. Perhaps he will be a hero." Gendry's eyes were sad and pleading and she wondered if he knew that she could never deny him when he looked at her in such a way.

The village was attacked by the evil Kings men and the orphan boy, Issac, found himself running away from the battle.

Gendry sighed above her, obviously disappointed that the bastard had not stayed to fight like any honorable man would have.

Issac ran and ran until he reached the outskirts of the next village, he began to shout warnings to the people in the town square, urging them to either take arms or flee. He helped an old woman and two children saddle a horse, he helped to distribute sword to all men who were capable of fighting, then he said a silent prayer as he watched the horseman come over the hills. The battle waged on and after many long hours, the Kings men whom were few in numbers, fled the fight.

Fearing he would be hated for running from his own village, he chose to continue north. Issac didn't know why, but his heart and feel compelled him to go towards the northern mountains. It was a feeling in his bones that he had never felt before, _purpose_. He walked for weeks but when a fierce snowstorm hit, he was forced to seek shelter. He pounded on the door of a small cottage that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Issac nearly recoiled when the door swung open and the red witch from his dreams stood just on the other side.

She seemed to recognize him too because she ushered him into the house hastily and had a warm bowl of stew already waiting for him. He demanded answers from her and she promised that after he ate, she would tell him all the things he desired to know. Reluctantly he agreed and ate quickly. The red witch smiled prettily at him, her dark red hair and blue eyes shined gorgeously from the light of the fire. He tore his eyes away from her and ate his bread in silence until finally all of the food she had served him was gone.

The red witch then told him that she had the ability to see the future, that as long as she kept her gods happy they would show her things. They showed her Isaac and Isaac's true love, Enya. Enya was the girl that Isaac had seen in his dreams. Isaac begged the witch to tell him where he could find his beautiful lady but she would not tell him. She said that she must show him the way. They left in the dead of night and did not stop until the next day had come and gone. The red witch did not sleep but Isaac did, this time he had no dreams. When they came upon a castle, Issac gulped. Surely his true love was not a high born lady or queen. But the witch nodded at him and Isaac felt his heart sink, though it could be that the lady was his true love, he doubted that she would love him in return. Before they entered the castle walls the witch stopped him, she spoke quietly as she informed him that he is the bastard of the true king and that as soon as the people within these walls realized this, they would expect him to fight for his fathers throne. She gave him the option to run from his duty and his love but he found that he could not do it.

The story ended with them entering the walled city.

Gendry had his hand tangled deep into her hair and he had a far off look in his eye. She was quiet while she waited for him to work through whatever was troubling him.

"Arya?" Gendry murmured.

"Yes, Gendry?"

"Can a lady really love a lowborn bastard? Even though he cannot read or provide her with jewels and land?"

"Yes, I think a lady can. Love is not about material things, but about kindness and understanding. Those are the things that matter regardless of birth."

A smile spread over his face slowly.

"Even if he is not the bastard of a king?" He teased.

"Even so."

He bent to kiss her and all she could thought as his lips brushed hers was that being in a cold damp cave with Gendry was better than any stupid fairy tale ever written.


End file.
